Four volunteer firefighters were honored at the Rockland County Fire Chief’s Association’s Old-Timers Awards Night and dinner. More than 250 current and former Rockland fire chiefs, along with County Executive Ed Day, gathered Saturday to honor their own at the annual event.
From left: Andrew A. Fredericks Instructor of the Year Curt Wicks; Bob Murdock of the Hillcrest Fire Department; County Executive Ed Day; Frank Jewett of the Nyack Fire Department. Photo Tom Bierds
The Active Chief’s Award was given to Robert Johnson Jr., chief of the Spring Valley Fire Department.
The Jerome Trachtenberg Award went to former Chief Harold Straut of the Nanuet Fire Department. The award is named for the founder of the county’s Legal Aid Society and dean of Rockland’s legal community. Trachtenberg practiced in the county for almost 60 years.
The Charles “Smoky” Fales Award was presented to J. Harold Dawson of the Suffern Hook and Ladder Company. The award is given to senior members who are still active in their department and other fire associations including committees and community service. The award is named for a former chief of the Haverstraw Fire Department who also served with the Stony Point Fire Department. Fales was the county’s first fire coordinator in 1948, and was a volunteer for 67 years.
The William V. Harris Award was given to radio station WRCR 1300AM. Harris, a 40-year Pearl River Fire Department member and twice its chief, owned W. Harris & Son contracting. He and his company responded with equipment to the September 11 terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center and spent nine months at the site in lower Manhattan. Harris was diagnosed with mercury poisoning and died in September 2008 at the age of 57.
The recipient of the Andrew A. Fredericks Instructor of the Year Award was Curt Wicks of the Stony Point Fire Department. The award is named for Fredericks, a fire instructor and former volunteer with the Suffern Fire Department. Fredericks was a member of Squad Company 18 of the New York Fire Department who was killed in the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Center.
The Past Presidents Award was also presented to Harold Straut, who served the fire chief’s association from 2012 to 2015.
